


A Difference in Methods

by arachnid_writes



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: Fantasy AU, Healing Magic, angst if you squint, but healing magic gone wrong, he does it wrong, hijinks ensue, i don’t know what else to tag here, leo tries to heal a scrape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:46:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26077420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arachnid_writes/pseuds/arachnid_writes
Summary: “Tell me something,” he started, reaching up to pinch his snout. “is your whole healing thing normally supposed to leave the wound not healed?”takes place after “When it Counts”
Relationships: Donatello & Leonardo (TMNT)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 91
Collections: The Messenger The Hunter The Prince and The Thief





	A Difference in Methods

Literally all Donnie wanted was for this _annoying_ scrape on his good knee— which had torn a small hole through his best pair of pants by the way— to stop burning irritatingly every time he took a single step the wrong way.

He had even managed to push down his pride and lingering irritation to ask Leo about it. The on-the-run prince had just recently rediscovered his healing powers, or so he had told the others, holding an equally excited looking Mikey by the shoulders. He had tried not to think about how Big Mama had found the two, knowledge that still made his nonexistent hairs raise at the slightest of sounds behind him. What had mattered was they both turned out, and _were_ , okay.

So yes, that healing magic should be very useful! No more grumbling over too right bandages and stinging antiseptic.

Except maybe Donnie should’ve known better. This was on-the-run- _prince_ Leo, after all. Even if he seemed to become more normal (or as normal as it gets) as time went on, he still had that arrogance to him. That showboating that led Donnie to dislike him so greatly when they first met.

And yet, Donnie was _still_ somehow surprised when upon requesting for assistance with his scrape, he was met with excitement rather than concern. 

“Is this _really_ necessary, Leo?” he sighed. He was seated on a log, a poor excuse for a chair, with one leg bent normally and the scraped one stretched out, pant leg rolled up for easier access.

“Uhm, are _you_ the doctor?” Leo said, making a show of taking off his gloves, his sarcasm making it seem like he was the professional here. He wasn’t, in fact, the professional here. Neither of them were.

Donnie scowled, more in annoyance than genuine malice. “Neither are you, last time I checked you don’t have any qualifications.”

Leo waved his now bare hand dismissively. “Pish posh.”

He walked over to Donnie’s leg, kneeling in the dirt so that his hands were level with the aggravated wound. Donnie found himself glancing at the dirt around Leo’s knees, and he wondered to himself when the neat freak had gotten so nonchalant about getting dirty.

“I have to focus for a sec, so don’t move.” Leo said, one hand reaching up and placing itself on the scrape while the other pushed it more firmly, eyes slipping closed.

On reflex, Donnie hissed and smacked at Leo’s hand. “Hey! Did you even wash those?!” 

Leo’s hands didn’t move, but he did look up with an irritated expression. “Uh, trying to focus? And no, but it doesn’t matter. The magic sorta doesn’t care, it just heals.”

Donnie crossed his arms and tried to ignore the way the scrape stung the more Leo’s hand was there. “If i get an infection, _you’re_ cleaning the pus.”

Leo just hummed, still keeping his eyes closed. Donnie was sorta left staring for a bit, waiting for something to happen.

“Didn’t you say it was supposed to glow or something-“

Leo’s eyes snapped open, and for a second Donnie though he was gonna tell him to stop talking again, but his eyes were shining with pure _energy_. It almost seemed to leak out, resembling almost floating tears. Odd.

Then Leo’s hands started to glow too, and Donnie thought he should probably brace himself for some kind of weird freaky out of body experience. He tensed up, eyes trained on his knee, only to slowly relax as he realized he...really didn’t feel anything at all. He could even see part of the scrape peaking out under Leo’s hands, very much still red and not healed. 

The skin around it even seemed to get redder. That wasn’t supposed to happen, right?

Leo still seemed to be concentrated though, and Mikey had come out quite honestly without a scratch from the last time he used his healing magic, so Donnie supposed he’d just have to trust him. Maybe the scratch was worse than he thought.

More time seemed to pass, minutes feeling like hours to Donnie as the scrape suddenly got _incredibly_ itchy. He was also breathing a little shallower than normal, each breath seeming like not enough air for his lungs. When had it gotten so hot? He reached up to wipe at his forehead, only to find it come back with a very concerning sheen of sweat on the top. His eyebrows furrowed in concern, and he risked a glance back at the scrape.

He couldn’t see it from underneath Leo’s hand anymore, which was probably a good sign. 

Speaking of which, that brought his sights to the healer in question. He couldn’t tell if it was just his slowly blurring vision, but it looked like the leaking flecks of magic had congealed and grown larger, falling down faster and more steady. His eyes almost hurt to look at they were glowing so brightly, and Donnie had to look away.

He assumed the white spots in his vision to be from staring at said glowy eyes, expecting them to vanish soon after looking away. He grew concerned when he didn’t.

“Leo,” he said, quieter than before. He reached over to push at Leo’s arm, nudging his hands off a bit. “I think that’s enough. You’re spending too long on a scrape.”

Leo’s hands didn’t move. “Few more seconds and you won’t feel anything at all, if i stop now it might still bother you a bit.”

Any longer sounded like agony, and Donnie pushed at Leo’s arms more firmly, staggering forward at the moment. “Leo, seriously. Stop.”

Leo muttered something but pulled his hands away, the light fading and flaking off. His eyes faded back to that familiar yellow, slightly exasperated. “Fine, but don’t complain if it acts up when you wal-“

Donnie must’ve looked worse than he felt— he thought distantly— if Leo’s reaction was anything to go by. The slider had gotten to his feet, though still crouching, and Donnie’s head spun a little trying to fallow the movement.

“Uh, you weren’t like that before.” he said dumbly. Donnie scoffed and rolled his eyes, ignoring the discomfort for the sake of dramatics.

“You think?” 

Leo reached over, pressing the back of his hand on Donnie’s cheek and immediately rearing back. Donnie found himself chasing the cool touch for a moment too long, head still leaned over where the hand had been.

“Geez, you’re burning up. A fever maybe? How the heck could you have gotten a fever in like, five minutes?”

Donnie looked down before he answered, squinting at the very itchy and inflamed leftover scrape that _definitely_ should’ve been fully healed. He groaned. 

“Tell me something,” he started, reaching up to pinch his snout. “is your whole healing thing normally supposed to leave the wound _not_ healed?”

“What?” Leo looked down, and Donnie wondered how he could’ve not noticed he hadn’t even done his job. “That- I could’ve sworn it was-“ 

Leo shook his head, kneeling back down quickly. “It’s okay, i’ll just try again. I don’t totally know how this works yet so maybe it needs a second pass.” Donnie’s brain was sluggish, not processing what Leo was saying until hands were reaching for his knee again. “Maybe i can heal your fever too, but I’ve never tried-“

Donnie gripped Leo’s wrist tightly, halting his movements. “ _Don’t_. You’ll make it worse.”

Leo blinked up at him. “What- how is _healing_ gonna make it _worse_?! You’re supposed to be the smart one, right? That fever scrambling your brain or something?”

Donnie panted lightly, shaking his head to get himself back in order. He moved Leo’s hand away from his leg and laid back on the log, the slider squawking indignantly at the movement. Donnie closed his eyes, grasping at words in his head to form a coherent sentence. 

“I think...” he breathed. “I think you triggered what’s called an autoimmune response. I don’t know how, I don’t know why, but you did. That’s why I,” he pulled his arm up weakly to gesture at himself. “am in this predicament.”

Leo spluttered. “Wh- no. I _healed_ you! I definitely felt something being removed, that couldn’t have been nothing.”

Donnie cracked an eye open. “You _pulled something out_? Do you know _what_ it was?”

“...No. I don’t.”

Donnie groaned and shut his eyes again.

“Well now what was once a scrape feels like I was _stabbed in the knee_ , and I’ve got a fever on top of that too. So much for healing I guess.”

Leo was silent next to him, but Donnie was just grateful he wasn’t trying to fix his own problem again. He was too preoccupied to think critically about what that silence could mean, anyways.

Donnie sighed and opened his eyes again, swinging himself over the edge of the log to sit again. Leo startled, looking at him with something carefully guarded in his expression. Donnie quirked a brow, but didn’t question it.

“There’s some kind of town nearby, I think. We’ll have to find some kind of medicine or something, ’m _not_ traveling with a fever.” he said matter of factly, only to lay back down when sitting up proved too much effort. 

“Sounds like a plan, I’m gonna go look for Mikey and Raph and let them know what’s going on.” Leo said, giving a thumbs up before standing and walking away.

Something gnawed at the back of Donnie’s fever addled mind, something telling him to go after Leo. Maybe it was the fact that Leo was walking in the _completely_ wrong direction. But Donnie couldn’t get his legs to hold him up to sit, much less walk right now.

_Some sleep will do some good._ He let his eyes slipped closed.


End file.
